62% of Adults Don't Check Credit Reports

April 20th, 2012 by Joshua Heckathorn

Each year I look forward to checking out the National Foundation for Credit Counseling's Consumer Financial Literacy Survey. The NFCC has been sponsoring this report for six years now, and the results are generally released around the beginning of April in recognition of National Financial Literacy Month. As in previous years, the 2012 Consumer Financial Literacy Survey includes some pretty alarming statistics surrounding credit reports and credit scores. Here's what really caught my eye as I perused the key findings in this year's report.

Mortgage lenders now requiring significantly higher credit scores

by admin on April 18, 2012

New data from the technology firm Ellie Mae shows that consumers who want to obtain home loans will now need both an extremely high credit rating and a significant down payment if they want to qualify, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times. In February, the average consumer who found they were approved for traditional home loans had a score of 764 and could make a down payment of 22 percent.

56% of Americans Don't Have a Personal Budget

It's April, which means Financial Literacy Month is here once again! And as usual, the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) recently released the much-anticipated results of its 2012 Consumer Financial Literacy Survey.

Updated by Joshua Heckathorn on Wed, 2012-04-18 17:00

Book 4 Tickets to Hawaii for $20 with British Airways Visa Signature Card 100,000 Bonus

April 18th, 2012 by Joshua Heckathorn

The British Airways Visa Signature Card is back again with another 100,000 mile promotion. While it's not quite as good as last year's deal, which offered 100,000 bonus points after simply making one purchase and spending $2,500 during the first three months, the latest promotion still provides new cardholders with the opportunity to earn up to 100,000 bonus Avios points during the first year. The main difference between the two deals is that you'll have to spend a lot more this time around to bank all the sign-up bonus points, which means you may even need to make the British Airways Card your go-to credit card for most of the year. Here's a quick breakdown of what you'll need to do to earn the full 100,000 point bonus:

Americans continue to make most card payments on time

by Alice Bryant on April 17, 2012

Most of the nation's six largest credit card lenders saw instances of both late payments and accounts so far behind that they had to be written off as uncollectable drop once again in March, according to a report from Dow Jones Newswires. Those lenders - American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Citi, Discover Financial, and JPMorgan Chase - have enjoyed steadily declining rates of delinquency and default for more than a year and a half, and only two saw charge offs tick up last month.

Some concerned over lack of regulation for mobile payments

by admin on April 16, 2012

Late last month, lawmakers in Congress held a pair of hearings on the topic of the necessity for regulation of the mobile payment industry, weighing arguments on both sides of the issue, according to a report from American Banker. On the one hand, some experts have noted that because mobile payments are expected to become more or less ubiquitous within the next three years or so, it may be necessary for both consumers and the companies pushing these payment platforms to have as much of an understanding and regulatory presence in place as soon as possible.

Ask Creditnet: Can Paying Taxes Late Hurt My Credit Scores?

April 16th, 2012 by Joshua Heckathorn

Dear Creditnet: I've procrastinated filing my income tax return and just found out from my CPA that I'll probably owe a lot more than expected this year.

I know I'll have to pay penalties and interest if I file an extension and fail to pay what I owe in full by the 17th, but can paying taxes late hurt my credit scores too? I want to buy a home later this year and simply can't risk hurting my credit.

New Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: 40,000 Sign-up Bonus

April 13th, 2012 by Joshua Heckathorn

I mentioned in a January blog post that the 50,000 point sign-up bonus for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card would likely get the axe before the 2nd quarter of 2012. Well, it was axed as I expected, but the card offer that took it's place is surprisingly not as bad as I originally thought it would be.

Consumer watchdog says some credit card fees won't be regulated

by admin on April 12, 2012

Earlier this week, the federal consumer financial protection bureau announced that it would seek public comment on its proposed rule to limit all fees associated with a credit card account to be no more than a combined 25 percent of an account's initial credit limit, according to a report from the Associated Press. Currently, these caps apply only to fees charged in the first year the account exists, and one way in which some lenders are skirting the rules is by charging a "processing fee" before the account is open.

Consumers will likely continue to expand, improve card use

by Alice Bryant on April 11, 2012

By the end of 2012, it's projected that charge offs - the number of credit card accounts that are so far behind on payments that lenders have to write them off as being uncollectable - will tumble for the nation's six largest lenders by another 15 or 20 percent to a low of roughly 4.5 percent, according to new data from Moody's Investors Service.